In this video, Yanis Varoufakis delves into the seismic developments of January 2025, spotlighting the transformative impact of DeepSeek—a groundbreaking Chinese AI company that has sent shockwaves through the global tech and financial landscapes. By releasing free, open-source AI models, DeepSeek has not only disrupted the American stock markets but has also outperformed proprietary giants like OpenAI’s GPT-4, challenging the very foundations of the AI industry.
Varoufakis unpacks the far-reaching implications of this upheaval, framing it within the context of techno-feudalism. He critiques the monopolistic “cloud capital” models typified by Amazon’s Alexa, contrasting them with the democratizing potential of commodified AI services such as ChatGPT. The discussion extends into the geopolitical arena, analyzing the intensifying tech rivalry between the United States and China and what it signals for the future of global power dynamics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aotKmC3FHn4
00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:11 DeepSeek’s Impact on AI and Stock Markets
00:56 The Open Source Revolution
02:35 The Fall of AI Commodities
03:32 Cloud Capital vs. AI Commodities
04:22 Alexa vs. ChatGPT: A Comparison
06:04 The Rise of Techno Feudalism
06:51 The New Cold War: US vs. China
08:26 Conclusion and Future Speculations
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Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law
Noam Chomsky: The End of Organized Humanity
Kojin Karatani’s theorising on modes of exchange and the ring of Capital-Nation-State
After the truth-shower 